And they’re off! Small army of pols looks to take the 5th
Remember when we used to lament that no one voted?
Now you can’t shake them with a stick. And that’s just the candidates. The joke used to be, “What if they held an election and nobody came?” Not anymore. This year everyone is getting on board.
At this point – especially on the Democratic side – it might be easier to list who isn’t running.
Welcome to the 5th District race for Congress. Buckle your seat belt. We’ve never seen anything quite like this.
No less than 14 Democrats have filed seeking the nomination of their party to go to Washington.
There was also a huge cadre of Republicans, but at least they had the good sense to narrow the field a bit.
Why the sudden spike in interest in running for Congress? Let us count the ways.
First, in particular on the Democratic side, these folks are feeling their oats a bit. They’re still glowing in the aftermath of their November stunner, in which they did something they have not done in decades. That would be win countywide office. Democrats not only took both the open seats on County Council, they also swept all three county row offices.
The numbers continue to move in their favor. The county’s demographic is changing. That legendary, at one time nearly 3-1 GOP voter registration edge that they used for decades to rule the Delco roost is gone. There are now Democratic voters in the county than Republicans.
And a lot of those voters are angry at President Trump. That played a part in the November surprise. Now Democrats are looking to parlay that into gains in races for Congress and the state Legislature. off
Then there’s the map. Who could forget the legal tug of war that finally ended last week, with two sets of federal judges backing the state Supreme Court’s map, which created this new 5th District. It does away with the old 7th and 1st Districts and brings the entire county under one roof, along with a sliver of Montgomery County on the Main Line, and a portion of South Philly.
Add to that the fact that candidates are battling for what amounts to an open seat and you have the makings of a donnybrook. Remember, incumbent Republican Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7, opted not to seek re-election after it was divulged that he used taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment complaint filed by a former staffer.
That’s sparked an unprecedented interest in running for Congress, with more than dozen candidates licking their chops for the November general election.
But that also creates something of a dilemma for the Dems. Can there be too much of a good thing?
You bet. How? Well, they have to get through the primary first.
And that is not going to be an easy task.
There are no less than 14 Democrats who would like to be the party’s standard bearer in the newly created 5th District.
Those include two state reps, Havertown’s Greg Vitali, D-166, and Upper Darby’s Margo Davidson, D-164. Then there is Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland. And a slew of others, including Lawrence Arata of Haverford; George Badey, chairman of Radnor Township’s Democratic Committee; former CIA intelligence officer Shelly Chauncey of Glen Mills; former Morgan Stanley wealth manager Lindy Li of Philadelphia; former U.S. Assistant Attorney Ashley Lunkenheimer of Upper Providence; attorney Dan Muroff of Marple; attorney Mary Gay Scanlon of Swarthmore; scientist Dr. Molly Sheehan of South Philadelphia; journalist/entrepreneur David Wertime of Lower Merion; and entrepreneur Theresa Wright of Norristown in vying for the Democratic nomination.
But the real intrigue in this race likely will come from Rich Lazer, a former aide to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. How ironic would it be that after waiting all these years to see the entire county included in one congressional district - where they have a decided voter registration edge - the Delco Dems could find themselves so splintered that it opens the door for Lazer to post an upset win in the primary?
For years people in Chester and a slice of towns along the river were not included in the 7th, but instead were lumped into the 1st, lorded over by Philly Dem powerbroker U.S. Rep. Bob Brady. He also is not running for re-election, probably one of the reasons the 1st District is being blown up.
But if the Dems can’t get behind one candidate, they could find themselves again being represented by someone from outside the county.
Landau said Dems likely will come together sometime in the next couple of weeks and try to united behind one candidate for the primary.
On the Republican side, they have put the wagons in a circle around Pearl Kim of Radnor, a former county assistant district attorney and former senior deputy state attorney general.
The smart money was on Republicans picking a woman in the wake of the #Metoo revolution and the fact that Meehan was chased from office by a harassment issue.
But I’ve also heard that last Sunday’s Republican endorsement meeting was not exactly without some contention.
I’ve had some Republicans tell me they fear the party leaders and national GOP have basically written off the 5th District as unwinnable in the wake of the new map put in place by the state Supreme Court.
They are not happy about the way the endorsement went down.
An early frontrunner, Clare Putnam Pozos, a former assistant U.S. attorney, actually withdrew from consideration after speaking with party Chairman Andy Reilly before the endorsement meeting. Most of the other candidates, including Joe Billie and Wally Smerconish.
One other Republican name likely will appear on the ballot as a challenge to Kim. That would be former corporate commodity executive Paul Addis of Haverford.
It will be interesting to see how much national support and money - Kim gets in her bid to keep the seat in Republican hands.
In the meantime, you might need a scorecard, especially if you’re voting in the Democratic Primary.
It’s the battle take the 5th. Uh, 5th District that is. This will be one for the books. to see process who will record